The effort to register the Taiwan Beer brand name as a trademark in China has been thwarted by political intrigue, a Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL,
"I believe there has been political interference regarding the approval of the brand name," said TTL chairman Morgan Hwang (黃營杉) at a press conference yesterday, which was called in response to a statement released by China's Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday.
Li Weiyi (
Despite Li's claim that geographical names can not be included in trademarks, there are a number of Chinese products that include geographical names, such as Tsingtao Beer (
Hwang said that the Taiwan Beer name has been in use since 1946, and has become a notable and distinctive brand name.
"Both sides [of the Taiwan Strait] should set aside ideology and political motivations to promote industrial and commercial exchanges," Hwang said.
The state-run company's predeccessor, the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau (菸酒公賣局) began the registration process of taiwan pichiu (台灣啤酒), or Taiwan Beer, in Beijing in 1999, before the company was corporatized and changed its name in July 2002.
The trademark registration was turned down twice.
In December 2002, TTL re-applied to register its trademark, with no result until Wednesday.
At the same time, the company also applied to register its product under another name: tai pi (
"The matter has not yet been finalized," Hwang said, adding that the company will continue its legal efforts to garner Beijing's approval.
Hwang also called on China to abide by the WTO's rule of "national treatment" and open its market to Taiwan Beer.
National treatment indicates that imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally -- at least once the foreign goods have entered the market. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents.
Taiwan joined the the global trade body on Jan. 1, 2002, and China's imported beer brands quickly snatched an 8.4-percent share of the market that year, while Taiwan Beer dropped to its lowest-ever market share of 74.1 percent.
With the launch of Gold Medal Taiwan Beer in April last year, TTL has regained its market presence to achieve an 80 percent slice of the market this year, while Chinese beers have dropped to 4.8 percent.
Hwang said, until last month, 156 million bottles of 13 Chinese beer brands have been imported into the nation while Taiwan Beer's plan to enter the Chinese market remains stalled.
If Taiwan Beer is allowed to hit the Chinese market, Hwang said, TTL might form strategic alliances with Chinese companies, which will allow the company access to local know-how and authorization to manufacture Taiwan Beer in China.
"We hope that Chinese people can also enjoy our internationally-renowned beer," he said.
If the proposal is turned down again, Hwang said TTL would apply for negotiations to be conducted by the Mainland Affairs Council, before filing a protest with the WTO.
"Fair competition is conducive to cross-strait development," he said.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS